Knock On Wood: Pristine Edition
by LeMafiaKreb
Summary: I’ve been wanting to rewrite this story for a while. I’m not going to remove the original, since I have so many good memories attached to it. I will be updating this irregularly. Not much has changed, but some errors have been fixed and short chapters have been fused together. Hope you enjoy!


Author's Notes

I've been meaning to rewrite and improve some chapters for the story. Most of the original chapters will remain the same, maybe with some additional paragraphs or in this case, the prologue. Hope you enjoy!

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Prologue

Bookshelves lined the walls of a massive cave, and infinitely tall rows more went from the ceiling to the roof. Lamps littered the area, and yet such a large space could not be fully illuminated. Books seemed to move on their own from shelf to shelf, organizing themselves in alphanumeric order. Some were very old, and these left the shelves to flutter down and rest at a desk.

There was a frail-looking old man with graying hair sitting at the desk. His nimble hand movements revealed more mobility and life than eyesight would, and his eyes were sharp and focused. The man dipped a quill in ink and returned color to the words and letters that had begun to fade on an ancient book. When he was done, the man carefully closed the book and set it aside, moving on to the next one.

The torches suddenly blew out, but the man didn't seem to mind. A door creaked open, and footsteps echoed all over this grand library. The man exhaled and set down his quill, placing the open book atop the small tower of others that required his attention. The man stretched and got up, walking around the desk towards the doorway and relighting the lamps on his way.

Another man, dressed in a black jacket and jeans stood leaning against the wall next to the door. The librarian stopped five steps before reaching the second man, tucking his talented hands in his pockets. "May I help you?"

The second man smiled, a horribly menacing thing, and took a step forwards. "You have, old-timer. Here's your book."

The librarian nodded and with one hand motion, the book flew from the newcomer's hands and into the shelves with its brethren. "Was there anything more you needed?"

The jacketed man searched the librarian's gaze for a moment before smiling again. "Not from you. I think I'll let you keep your library for a while longer."

The old man shook his head, walking away. "That is out of your control. The Archive cannot be destroyed by anyone other than the one who made it. Have a good day, and a pleasant life."

The newcomer huffed, walking back the way he came. "With you, and their kind around, life is anything other than pleasant. But I intend to correct that."

The door slammed shut, echoing all over the magical library. The old man went back to and sat down at his desk, taking the book back and resuming his work. "You never will be able to," the man muttered to himself. "I would've been told."

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How beautiful.

The sky, the clouds, chasing one another. Truly poetic.

Too bad this was wasted on me

I rested on a soft slope covered with grass, surrounded by trees that seemed to stretch on forever. I took my time taking it all in. The sky, the trees, the grass, the smells, everything seemed so perfect. I didn't want to move. But once I ran out of to look at and take in, curiosity pushed me to get up.

My head spun just a little, making me feel like I had been laying there for hours. My muscles and joints seemed to agree, as they both whined in their own way. After managing to stand up unevenly, I looked around once more. Nothing truly new, just more trees and grass. But sounds where everywhere. I could hear my own breathing, distant mooing and bleating, the rustle of the leaves on the branches, and the sound of running water.

I headed in the direction of the noise, still a bit groggy. The closer I got, the louder it was, and the thinner the forest grew. It suddenly stopped a couple meters from the edge of the river. I crouched down next to it, plunging my hand into the water, and regretting it instantly. The river was ice cold, and the second my hand registered that, I pulled it out as fast as I could.

I dried my soaked hand on my clothes, which I had just noticed I had on. Just plain jeans and a cyan shirt, not much, but something. Once I could feel my hand again, I searched my surroundings, hoping to see if there was something that could help my predicament. I saw a mountain range, from which the river emerged, which is probably why it's so cold. I saw more trees and grass, some sand, a couple wildflowers, and not much else.

Well actually... there was a couple of animals farther down the river, so I suppose that counted. Still, thirst was somewhat dealt with. I wandered back into the woods, hoping to find something useful. I came across various stones and ferns, as well as a couple fallen logs.

Unsure of what else to do, I picked up a couple flowers and smelled them. I smiled at my own actions. When in doubt, stop and smell the flowers. The sentence only broadened my smile, proud of what I formulated. I set the plant life back on the ground, and looked around once again. My eyes wandered back to the stones on the ground. Most were round and lumpy, but a few were flant and sharp on the sides. Exactly what I needed.

I picked up two of these stones and walked back to one of the fallen tree trunks. I raised one of the stones to my eye-level, and deciding that it out work well enough, and raised it even further, past my head and towards the sky. Then, and with all my strength, I hacked at the fallen tree.

The impact with the tough wood actually stunned me for a moment, but I had managed to make a gash in it. When I tried to pull the stone from the trunk, a curved piece of bark fell. Intrigued, I picked it up and examined it. I supposed this could work as a bowl, or maybe a way to get some water from the river without freezing my hand off.

I tucked it away in one of my apparently large pockets, along with the second stone. I hacked away at the log for awhile longer before giving up. I had managed to get a few more pieces of bark, but none of them as large as the first one.

Once I had made it back to the river, I took the large piece of bark out of my pockets and crouched again. I took the piece of bark out and plunged it into the river, lifting it out before the icy liquid touched my fingers. As it wasn't exactly a bowl, the water quickly escaped and returned to the river. I tried again, this time immediately drinking what water was left on the piece of bark.

Finally, some proper progress.

I drank for a while, as my throat had started to become parched. Once I was satisfied, I sat back on the grass and sand to rested for a little while. Suddenly, a bright red globe fell on my head, bouncing once before coming to rest at the edge of the river. If I had known any curses then, I probably would have cursed. But since I didn't, I simply glared at my assailant.

I sat up and picked up the globe. Well, it wasn't a perfect globe. And it had a small stick on top. It smelled quite fine, and it's pretty red color drew me in. I stared at it for a moment, just looking and smelling. Then, out of the blue, I put it to my mouth and bit. The skin gave way with a satisfying crunch, lovely and sweet on my tounge. I chewed it for awhile, savoring the taste.

Then I basically went and ravaged it, leaving nothing but the stick and the core. It wasn't a large meal, but it was certainly delicious. Sitting back down I realized where the sweet treat had come from. The tree above me was full of these red things, some bigger than others. Having noticed, I promptly edged away from it, not wanting to get struck again. Making myself comfortable, I lay down and looked up at the beautiful blue sky.

Now that hunger and thirst had been sort of dealt with, I had time to see all I wanted, for as long as I wanted.

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The sky was darkening, and the wind was slowing down. The sun slid down, taking the beautiful aqua blue with it. I have no idea how long I was laying there, but it was definitely peaceful and soothing. Just above my head, a single pinprick of light appeared. Then another. And another, until there was hundreds of them littering the night sky.

I couldn't help but think that this might have been my new favorite thing to look at. Even better than clouds chasing each other. But then I heard a groan. Then a rattle. And a hiss. A couple of hisses, actually, some different from each other. I reluctantly sat up and looked round.

There was nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly, an arrow just zipped past me, barely missing my shoulder. I stood up and noticed multiple shapes lumbering among the woods, as well as a manacing-looking skeleton with an equally as menacing bow a short distance away.

I just stood there, as motionless as the horrid monster. It was utterly skinless, it's bones hideous and grey, with dark empty eye sockets. Then it started nocking another arrow into the bow.

I decided to leg it, just in time as well, because the skeleton missed by an inch. The monster gave chase, I think. I didn't have any reason to look back, so I kept running until I found a small cave. At this point, I was panicking, having realized that the woods were filled with all sorts of monsters. More skeletons, rotting zombies, giant spiders, weird flying things, and even weirder hissy green things.

I had no idea what to do. I sat on the cold hard stone and put my head in between my knees. At least I had some shelter. The cave wasn't deep, but it was sunk into the ground a little, so it served my current purpose just fine. All the running and dodging had made me feel parched. I waited and listened, hoping that the monsters wouldn't find me. I heard more groans, rattles, and some hisses of variating types.

Then I heard a scream. A very femenine scream.

I tentatively looked up and out of my hiding place. I saw something being chased by all of the monsters, even the flying things were nipping at its head. Her head? I really couldn't tell what it was. I mean, it could very well be a womanly man or something, so I wasn't sure. I also didn't know if I should help, or even if I could help.

I took both sharp stones from my pockets and ran, thinking that I was an absolute idiot but not caring. I was about to intercept it (he? Her?) when one of the flying things screeched at me, diving down to attack in the process. I looked up and bent just so to avoid it.

I raced harder, and when I neared, I almost stopped in shock. There was at least a hundred different monsters, not counting the flyers, all chasing the poor person. Most of them were zombies, but there was lots of everything else too. The person in question had some sort of grey armor on, but it was tattered and dirty. There was a bow and an empty quiver on said persons back, as well as a knife strapped to grey leggings.

I rushed forwards as fast as I could go, and I think the person heard me, cause they turned their head towards me. I was met with beautiful grey eyes, and a surprised expression. Now that I was closer, I could see that it was a girl, and that she was wounded. There was at least three arrows in different parts of her body, cuts and scrapes, bites on her shoulders and, surprisingly, burn marks. I had no idea how she was still running.

I waved breathlessly, trying to think of a way to lose the horde chasing us. The girl almost tripped, stumbling a little. I made a move to help her regain her balance, but was promptly pushed away. My mind was running rampant, coming up with many gruesome scenes of our death but no escape routes, the useless thing.

Then I heard it. The sound of running water. I waved to catch the girl's attention, accomplishing my goal after a couple attempts. "I have an idea to get us out of this mess," I shouted over the sound of monsters. "Follow me!"

I peeled off in the direction of the river, looking back for a second to see if she was following. Sure enough, I found a large mass of monsters and one girl running after me.

Running as fast as we could, I explained my plan to her. "There is a river up ahead, and I think that if we jump across it and climb the hills that are on the other side, we just might make it." I looked at her to see if she agreed with my plan, and with a look of determination, she nodded.

We both sped up until we could se the river through the forest. I realized that the so called 'hills' were a bit steeper that I thought, but that didn't seem to faze the girl beside me. Once we left the forest, the flying things got even nastier ands started to dive down more frequently. I kept dodging them, but the girl hadn't reacted in time, earning more wounds.

Just before we reached the edge, I started a countdown. "Ready? Three, two, one, Jump!"

She actually jumped a little bit early, but we both made it. Barely.

Once on the other side, her legs buckled and she fell. I was just about quick enough to catch the girl, stopping her from falling. She pushed me away a second later, causing her to hit the ground anyway.

I was unsure as to what to do, seeing her lay on the ground with her eyes closed and a grimace on her face. Then I heard splashing coming from behind us. I turned around to find half of the mobs swimming with difficulty towards us.

Without hesitation, I lifted her by the arm and pushed her towards the nearest hill. "Run, as fast as you can!"

She reacted swiftly, and began sprinting to safety. The hill had a cave carved into it, and trees on the top. I signaled her towards the cave, and she didn't hesitate.

This one, unlike my first hiding spot, went deeper. However, it was still a bit submerged, so it was a great place to hide. The flying things tried to get in, but they kept getting trapped under the cave's relatively low ceiling before they fled. The rest of the mobs seemed to have lost interest in continuing our pursuit.

Once we were safe, the girl collapsed on the stone floor. She pretty much fell asleep once she hit the floor, which was understandable. I got her into what I supposed was a more comfortable position, before removing her gear. She wore a plain white shirt and beige shorts beneath her armor, and her hair was a shining inky black. Her long lashes and pale skin were mesmerizing.

I piled all of her stuff in a faraway corner, and got myself comfortable near the entrance of the cave. Once there, i decided to admire the sky before sleeping. It was just as beautiful as before the sudden fright. A sky full of stars.

I lied down, and stared for awhile, before finally closing my eyes, and falling asleep

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I was awoken by a very normal, and natural thing; hunger.

I stood up, sore from sleeping on the cold stone floor, and walked outside. The sky was blue again, and all that was left of last night's chase was bones, flesh and potatoes, plus the occasional arrow and broken bow. I decided to pick everything up seeing as some was probably useful, especially the potatoes. I wandered around the shore for a bit before finding what I was looking for.

A tree full of red globes. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the river, so I was going to have to jump it again. Twice, actually. I took a couple of steps back and ran at full speed towards the river. Pushing hard against the ground, I crossed the distance easy, landing on the other side. However, once there, I slipped on a small rock, and fell flat on my belly.

I stood up, as red in the face as the tasty fruits, and dusted myself off. I walked towards the tree and examined it. I was just about too short to reach the tree's branches, so I would have to find a way to bring their contents down. I rummaged through my pockets until I came up with the largest bone I had found.

I pulled it out and held it up, using it to whack the red things out.

Whack* one

whack* two

whack* five

wha-* the bone cracked in half with a resonating crunch. I stared at the broken bone, a little disappointed but still happy to have gotten some of them. Now all I had to do was jump the river again. This time, though, I did it successfully. I walked and climbed back to the cave, realizing that atop the hill was another tree full of the red balls. I felt pretty stupid after noticing.

Once inside, I started gobbling down three of the delicacies, leaving two for later. Then I remember something important. I walked over to the deep end of the cave an lent against the wall, staring at the corner. The girl from last night was still there, still sleeping, and still had lots of injuries. I looked at the opposite corner, seeing all of her gear neatly piled up.

I started rummaging through it, trying to find anything useful to her current predicament. All She had was grey leather armor, a bow, an empty quiver, a large knife, plus a knapsack filled with dried meat and bottled water.

I looked back at the resting girl. She was seriously wounded, with bites and cuts everywhere, as well as three broken arrows on her body. One on her right shoulder, one on her left forearm and one on her right calf. The sheer amount of wounds made me wince. She needed some sort of medical treatment, like bandages, but I didn't have anything that could help her. Then I turned to her stuff and had an idea.

I made an excecutive decision and scrapped her helmet in strips to use the leather as crude bandages. I was considering tearing up her chest plate as well, but her leggings were in worse shape, so I chose to scrap that instead. I had a total of 6 short bandages and 12 long ones. I decided that i would wait for her to wake up before removing the arrows, but the minor scrapes and cuts I could treat.

I walked back down to the river and soaked three of the short scraps in the water. Then I climbed back up, and started cleaning the wounds. Her shirt had blood on it, and i was hesitant to check under it for any damage, so I left that for last. Once all visible wounds were treated, I bandaged up the biggest with the long bandages, leaving three for the arrows. The other three short bandages I used for drying and cleaning the rest of her fair, pale skin.

Then came the time to check under her shirt.

I still found the thought off putting, as I didn't want her to wake up to me taking her shirt off. Nevertheless, I put the shame aside and lifted her shirt up to just before her chest. Her stomach was mostly ok, except for a couple more cuts and grazes. I cleaned those up and put her shirt back on properly.

Once I was done, I dumped the dirty rags in the corner with her things and waited to see if she would wake up.

I spent a lot of time waiting, so much that no position was comfortable anymore, so I stood up and decided to check if there was anything useful I could do in the meantime. Once the fresh air hit me, I got a lot of ideas, and I knew which one to start with. I climbed my way to the top of the hill to explore the area. From up here, everything looked very peaceful.

There was actually a lot of space up here, with only a few trees and large stones. I felt satisfied with this, so I walked back down, to the river's edge, taking a quick drink. Then, walking around the hill, I peeked to see what was behind it. I was not disappointed in the least.

A beautiful valley spread before me, a magnificent thing spreading for kilometers, hidden behind tall mountains. There were plains in the center, forests around the edges, stone cliffs that arose form the right, and I could just about spot a lake at the farthest end.

Impressed and satisfied, I climbed back into the cave to find the girl still sleeping, but a little better now. All of this added up to make me feel very happy. I left yet again on a different quest. The trees on the other side of the river had very little branches, and they were very high up, so there was no sticks on the floor.

But over here, the trees were different, shorter and with more branches. I got myself to the top of the hill again and picked up as many sticks as I could carry. Then I brought everything into the cave. My haul consisted of seven sticks, all very similar to each other. I pulled one of the flat stones from the day before out of my pockets, and chose a stick. It was the shortest and heaviest of them.

I 'borrowed' the girls knife and made a cut through the stick, shoving the stone through it. I also picked up one of the dirty leather rags and used it to tie the whole thing together, making it sturdier. Then, huzzah, I had made myself a very odd and flimsy-looking axe. Proud at my achievement, I walked outside and towards the trees atop the hill.

Once up there, I prepared myself next to a tree. Lifting the axe, I swung at the tree with all of my might.

chunk!*

And again...

chunk!*

And then I took a step back to admire my work. The cut went all the way to the middle of the tree, and the axe still looked pretty solid. I took two more swings at it and then the whole thing snapped. With a thunderous crack, the tree came down to earth, cracks forming in three different places.

The force of the tree hitting the ground was frightening. My first thought was the girl, and I ran into the cave to check on her. Thankfully, neither the shelter nor its occupant seemed to have suffered any damage. I went back up and started hacking at one of the cracked spots, breaking it apart into logs and then into crude planks.

Apparently, everything I made looked crude.

I brought the twelve planks into the cave before I went back up to make more. Once the planks were all nicely stacked and the tree's branches were stripped and piled up, I sat down beside the sleeping girl to rest.

I ate both of the delicious red things that remained, then closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

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Author's Notes

The original had many spelling mistakes, and a few other things that needed fixing, so now that's done. Also, in case you haven't notices, I fused the first three chapters together. That'll be happening occasionally until we reach the longer chapters. I hope you like the changes I've made, and the prologue I added. :D

I'll be updating every chapter one by one every so often. Might make you reread the story, huh? I also really want to rewrite some chapters I wasn't too happy with, so there's that.

Thank you all for your time and support. Have an awesome day!

~ LeMafiaKreb


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